CBFP - MoP 19 - REMARKS - His Excellency Jochen Flasbarth, State Secretary in the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development

This is a synthesis of the Speech by the MOP19 Secretariat

Please download the speech here below:

1_His_Excellency_BMZ.pdf (572.9 KiB)

 


  • Excellencies, colleagues, partners,

As Chair of both the CBFP as well as the CAFI Executive Board, Germany would like to take this opportunity to underline its commitment to a continued fruitful collaboration with our Central Africa partners and all stakeholders in the region.  

  • We all know that the Central African forests are key to our survival on this planet. This is why we are here.

 

  • We know that we have a historic responsibility. The Central Africa forests are among the last places on Earth to absorb more carbon than they emit. We thus have the responsibility, but also the unique opportunity to keep these carbon sinks alive before they become sources of emissions. We must jointly seize this opportunity!

 

  • Germany does not only attach importance to CO2, forests and biodiversity. However, instead, we look at the world holistically and focus on the well-being of people and on how to improve their livelihoods.

 

  • To do so, we have created organizations to structure our dialogue and improve our collaboration: CBFP and CAFI are two prominent examples.

 

  • But dialogue alone isn't enough, which is why we support the implementation of projects to achieve concrete change on the ground.

 

  • To make the implementation of these programmes possible, we have made financial commitments in the spirit of Fair Deal, translated in the COMIFAC declaration and Glasgow pledges and more specifically in letters of intent we have signed through CAFI with Gabon, the Republic of Congo and the Democratic Republic of Congo so far.

 

  • Examples of such projects include among many others:
  • a $ 7 M Forest Certification Programme here in Gabon, which aims at the reduction of the emissions while creating jobs and developing a sustainable and productive forest sector, through certification and by fighting illegal logging.
  • a $15M programme in the Democratic Republic of Congo to support small and medium agricultural enterprises to adopt sustainable agricultural practices in order to manage savannahs and degraded forests, all the while increasing their harvests.
  • a $ 7 M programme in the Republic of Congo, which aims at the establishment of 2,500 ha of agroforestry plantations in Brazzaville and Pointe Noire to produce wood energy, cofounding a larger $ 30 M Green Climate Fund project.
  • a $ 2 M Support program in the DRC, to strengthen Indigenous People and Local communities’ capacities to participate in the management of natural resources.

   And collectively, we were able to make some progress:

  • We are Seeing decreasing trends of deforestation and forest degradation.
  • We are seeing greater awareness, greater commitments.
  • We were even able to pay for emission reductions, a first in Africa, in this very country, in Gabon which was only possible due to the relentless effort and commitment shown by Minister Lee White and the Gabonese people.

But collectively, we also still have a very long and challenging way ahead of us.

And let me be clear: We may only succeed collectively.

To do so, we need more exchange and more collaboration on all issues and all topics. This meeting of parties of the Congo Basin Forest Partnership and especially this plenary is a great platform to foster this exchange. I want to thank the Facilitator Dr. Christian Ruck and his

   team for doing their part.

                                     

Now, it is up to the rest of us to do our respective parts, and to do them better than ever before. Because it is clear that we need more of everything.

  • More ambition towards reforms from our partners in the region.
  • More and better data and evidence from the scientific and academic community in order to increase effectivity and efficiency of interventions.
  • More investment and reforms towards sustainable practices from the private sector.
  • More and better technical and political support from the members of the multilateral and INGO colleges.
  • More noise and awareness raising from Civil Society.

 

 

  • Be assured, we as donors will do our part. We will help the willing, accelerate processes and provide support.
  • This is why the spirit of the Fair Deal must live on past Glasgow. Glasgow was only a first step in our shared effort to save the carbon­- and biodiversity functions of the Congo Basin Forest all the while increasing the livelihoods of the populations of the Congo Basin.
  • This is why Germany does not stop at Glasgow. We are proud to announce an additional contribution of 45M Euros to the CAFI Trust Fund to:
  • Incentivize good forest stewardship and
  • Potentially expand the partnership beyond the 1st three countries (Congo,DRC and Gabon).
  • We hope that this new pledge will reinvigorate the donor community to join in so that we can jointly increase our ambition and seize this – our historic opportunity.
  • Before leaving the stage, I turn to his Excellency, Minister Michael Moussa-Adamou, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Gabon, and thank the Gabonese Republic for its hospitality and leadership on environmental sustainability and forest stewardship.

Excellencies, partners -thank you.

 

  • Regarding the closing High Level Political Panel of CBFP MOP 19 on 8 July 2022 in Libreville, joining COMIFAC's current President Jules Doret Ndongo, I am pleased to propose to the CBFP General Assembly plenary the establishment of a Finance Task Force to develop key elements for the political debate on a concept for long-term sustainable financing of ecological services of forests and peatlands in the Congo Basin - in line with the "COMIFAC Declaration" of September 2021 in Berlin (the so-called Fair Deal). I am pleased that this proposal is supported by some Partners.

 

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